Deep Waiver Wire: Josh Tomlin’s Emergence

One popular reasons that the Cleveland Indians were a popular pick to make the playoffs this season, was there potentially dominant roatation.

It seemed as though the combination of Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco, and Trevor Bauer would carry the Indians into October.

While most of those guys have been solid this season, there inconsistency has often plagued them as well. Even though the 1-4 options were pretty set, the 5th option in the rotation has been up for grabs all season.

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After multiple guys have failed to really capture that backend spot, it seems as though Josh Tomlin may offer them stability.

Tomlin has been with the Indians across six seasons, and he has largely been a spot starter or long man out of the bullpen. He largely has held an ERA in the mid-4’s, so fantasy owners have usually ignored him.

Because of the Indians continually trying to shuffle in different guys into the 5th spot of the rotation, Josh Tomlin has largely been in the minors this season and only has started 4 games this season.

So his promotion, he sits at 3-1, with a 3.08 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and 26 K’s. He has been solid, albeit in a small sample size, but he just looks like a different guy on the mound.

I don’t know if the extended minor league stint, or working out some mechanical issues has been the cause, but Tomlin has been able to demonstrate more swing and miss stuff than I remember.

He placed himself on my fantasy radar, after his start in New York where he only surrendered 1 ER over 7 innings, while striking out 6. His fastball command was great and his braking stuff just seemed sharper, keeping the Yanks off-balance.

The Indians have a pretty good track record lately of turning around some underperforming starters, like Kluber and Carassco, so I have confidence that Tomlin may be the latest example and could be a valuable addition down the stretch.

After his Yankees outing, he did allow 4 ER against the Brewers over 6 IP, but the only blemish from that game was the one homer he surrendered.

He then faced the Angels, and exhibited the same type of stuff that he showcased versus New York, as he limited the Angels to 2 ER, over 7 innings, while striking out 8.

His next start comes against the Tigers on the road, so I think he could be a viable streaming option and waiver wire add going forward.

Picking up Josh Tomlin is more of a perspective buy, but I’m putting faith in the organization and his recent success to persuade owners that Tomlin could be a sneaky add.

He at worst offers decent K numbers, but I feel like he can continue to offer quality starts each time he man’s the rubber. Owners should take a good look at picking him up and riding his solid pitching stretch as we get closer and closer to the playoffs.